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  • in reply to: Windgrams #9905
    David Webb
    General Member

    Looks like the windgrams are back online. Thanks Alan!

    in reply to: Windgrams #9876
    David Webb
    General Member

    Update: sounds like Alan (he processes the windgram data) was in the Apple fire evac zone, so he’s been without power and internet for several days. Glad to hear everything worked out ok for him.

    He definitely gets a pass on the windgrams being down!

    Thanks again, Alan, for providing such a valuable tool to the flying community.

    in reply to: Platform at Crestline #9834
    David Webb
    General Member

    Thanks for your efforts, Jeremy! The launch always looks super nice – I know it doesn’t keep itself like that.  🤘

    in reply to: The Great Storage Saga #9813
    David Webb
    General Member

    It’s likely you’re seeing a cached version (Firefox, Chrome, and Safari on iOS are quite bad at heavily caching documents like PDFs). Refresh a few times and you should see the updated version.

    in reply to: TIME TO RECONSIDER RULES FOR P2/H2 PILOTS #9756
    David Webb
    General Member

    I’m a green P3, and not an expert on USHPA regs or how they rate sites, but I’ll take a stab at this. Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable will jump in here.

    Marshall and Crestline are both, by definition, P3 launches, since you can’t see the LZ, so it seems like any attempt to classify those for unrestricted P2 use would be out.

    Seems like one could make an argument for the 750 (to remove the sign off requirement, it seems like it would have to be re-rated as a P2 launch). However, the scenario I’m thinking of would be a visiting P2 showing up, seeing that the 750 is a P2 launch (so they might assume that the launch, approach, and LZ are simple and good for beginners), and launching at noon to get some flights in. We all know that the entire area around the 750, the approach, and the LZ are pretty thermic midday, but the visiting pilot probably wouldn’t. We’re already seeing that visitors are just showing up and flying without reading the site briefings or asking for a site intro from the locals. Maybe the only thing that they know about the site before they fly is what it’s rated.

    The site sign-off issue, I know, is a hot topic at the moment (between instructors, students, and even USHPA/RRG), but to me, I think it’s a great way for pilots who have been learning and flying at our site for some time to be able to get more flights and experience under their belts. I think more advanced pilots or instructors would have more to say about how they feel about P2s having free run of a launch and the LZ.

    As for the standing issue of pilots violating the CSS rules – just about every case I’ve seen so far have been pilots that know the rules (and knowingly break them) going up to Crestline and launching. As said before, Crestline is, by definition, a P3 launch. They could have very easily chosen Marshall or the 750 to get more flights in (as some of the violators already had a site sign off) but they chose not to. Clear that in these cases, giving them more options wouldn’t have made any difference.

    Just my 2 cents.

    in reply to: Physical Altercation – Tuesday July 28 #9749
    David Webb
    General Member

    Afternoon. It wasn’t a full blown brawl, but there were verbal threats, shades being pulled off, and hands on throat. Not going to go into further detail yet.

    in reply to: Good Flying All Day – Saturday July 25, 2020 #9740
    David Webb
    General Member

    I made a goofy video of the relaxing morning flight 😄:

    in reply to: More Approach Pattern Stuff #9734
    David Webb
    General Member

    Request for everyone: say hi to pilots you don’t recognize. I’m a shy introvert, but usually just doing that is enough to get pilots talking and also makes learning that they are new to the site very quick and easy. A quick briefing on the area and the AJX approach pattern, I think, would reduce a lot of trouble and danger with out of towners, and also have them walk away with a much more memorable (in a good way) flight.

    We just had some HG pilots visiting this weekend that could have had a much better time for themselves and other pilots in the air if they had bothered to look at the site guidelines (one nearly clipped a PG doing figure eights in the PG approach and another overshot and landed in the bushes), so for those folks (since we can’t make everyone do their homework), an unsolicited in-person briefing would go a long way.

    We will also be making some adjustments to some of the pages on the site (home page and the “Join” page) to make skipping over the approach pattern info a bit harder.

    Teamwork makes the dream work!

    in reply to: Insurance – Everyone’s Favorite Topic #9695
    David Webb
    General Member

    The inner lawyer in me interprets the following from the policy as “you would not be covered flying from a bandito site or landing out somewhere else”:

    At the time of the “occurrence” giving rise to “bodily injury” or “property damage”, the pilot in command of the Unpowered Ultralight Vehicle was not operating at a location designated by the location’s managing USHPA Chapter and/or landowner as requiring a minimum pilot Flight Proficiency Rating greater than the possessed by the pilot in command…

    Should probably get the RRRG guys to clarify that one though.

    EDIT: Wow – I asked around and it sounds like Bo’s scenario holds up. I don’t even know what to say to that.

    EDIT 2: Everyone, please don’t do that.

    in reply to: Insurance – Everyone’s Favorite Topic #9693
    David Webb
    General Member

    Those are good points, Marc. Common sense isn’t so common, it would seem. Would most of us go to a new site and just launch without at least looking for a bit of information about the place first? Probably not (at least, I hope not).

    Keep in mind that there is no “day use sign up sheet,” since day use is no more.

    We do have the approach patterns on big posters in the LZ, but as you said, not sure how many read those. I’m not sure a sign on the stairs would help, but we could certainly try that out. In talking to pilots on launch, a scenario I’ve run into more than once is visiting pilots driving directly up to launch, so any signage in the LZ would be moot.

    What seems to help (I try to do this as much as I can, but I’m only there usually once a week on the weekends) is saying hello to pilots that you don’t recognize and get them engaged in a little conversation. That makes it really easy to point them in the right direction for information, getting their membership squared away, and giving them a site intro if they haven’t had one already. We’ll need EVERYONE to participate in that to make that effective, but I think it could do the most good.

    in reply to: Insurance – Everyone’s Favorite Topic #9683
    David Webb
    General Member

    Thanks for adding, Thomas.

    Many of these actions are already in place (it’s a matter of pilots and drivers choosing to follow them).

    1. All of CSS’s guidelines are clearly spelled out on this site, and we have posters up in the LZ with some of that information presented again (such as the approach information, club policies, etc). I’ve said it before, but I highly recommend that everyone read through the site guidelines, even if you’ve been a member for a long time.
    2. All CSS members sign a waiver when buying or renewing a membership (it’s that large popup that comes up when you click “Sign Up” to buy your membership on the site). Here are the contents of that waiver (available in the Club Library).
    3. This is a hard one to enforce, since the club isn’t operating the shuttles (individuals are), but it would be great if this one was more consistent. Shuttle operators and drivers dropping off P2s at Crestline for a 1PM flight, for example, is definitely not a good thing for safety.
    4. This is written into the By Laws – it’s a matter of will to enforce.
    5. I think the sign in sheet is a good idea, but from a practical standpoint (such as pilots going straight up to launch before stopping by AJX, going XC and landing out, or launching and top landing), I’d suspect that it’s usefulness would be limited.
    in reply to: Storage Audit – July 11, 2020 #9665
    David Webb
    General Member

    Awesome! Thanks Jeremy.

    in reply to: Storage Audit – July 11, 2020 #9655
    David Webb
    General Member

    Hi Matthew,

    Send an email to info@crestlinesoaring.org with details about the shelf and we’ll get you fixed up.

    in reply to: Storage Audit – July 11, 2020 #9616
    David Webb
    General Member

    Thanks Chris. I saw your order come through – you’re good to go.

    in reply to: Storage Audit – July 11, 2020 #9602
    David Webb
    General Member

    Thanks Don. I’ll have to wait for confirmation from Jeff on that.

    In the future (and to everyone else), please don’t drop money in the mail slot. We’re not using that anymore – moving all transactions to the website makes a LOT of things much simpler (no one has to pick up and carry cash to the bank, the storage shelves and memberships get automatically cataloged and tracked without someone having to keep track of it on paper, and reminder emails get sent out automatically to you when it’s time to renew).